SAS MERC: CARTEL RIVALS HIRED ME TO TAKE OUT ESCOBAR
Documentary tells story of daring mission
A NEW documentary about Pablo Escobar will focus on the Scottish mercenary hired to kill the world’s most notorious drug baron.
Ex-SAS operative Peter McAleese was recruited by a rival Colombian cartel to take out Escobar in 1989.
Now a documentary will tell the story in McAleese’s own words and will show never-seen-before footage of his mission – which was ultimately unsuccessful.
Killing Escobar, produced by Glasgow-based Two Rivers Media and Salon Pictures, will also reveal how McAleese’s violent upbringing in Glasgow, SAS training and experience as a mercenary in Africa led him to take on the daring assignment.
Filmmaker David Whitney said he hopes audiences will be “thrilled” by the story.
He said: “When my editor and I sat and watched the footage that the men had filmed of their mission we were amazed by the breadth and quality – it was a gold mine. It’s been a long, difficult journey to get Killing Escobar to the screen but I hope audiences will be as thrilled by this incredible true story as I was.”
The 90-minute film contains archives from McAleese’s life, as well as interviews with other key participants in the story, such as fellow mercenary Dave Tomkins, DEA officers Javier Pena and Steve Murphy – the subjects of Netflix’s hit series
Narcos – and McAleese’s Cali Cartel liaison Jorge Salcedo, whose experiences in Colombia also inspired the Netflix series.
Mick McAvoy, head of factual at Two Rivers Media, said: “This film tells the unlikely tale of how a man from the East End of Glasgow was asked to bring together a team of ex-special forces operatives to travel to the very heart of the criminal empire of the world’s most dangerous man in order to assassinate him.”
McAleese, now 77, served with Britain’s Parachute Regiment, the SAS, Rhodesia’s SAS and the South African Defence Force.
Described as “the ultimate professional soldier”, McAleese has detailed his extensive experiences in several books, including No Mean Soldier, but this is the first time he will tell the whole story about his attempts to assassinate Escobar.
The film will get its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on March 7 and air on BBC Scotland this year.